Estate Planning

Estate planning is the preparation of tasks that serve to manage an individual's asset base in the event of their incapacitation or death. Estate planning, along with risk management and retirement planning, is a crucial aspect of your overall financial plan, and can often be overlooked. The steps you take now will take the burden away from your loved ones when you're gone or unable to make those decisions. 

Key elements in estate plan may include a Will, Trust(s), Power of Attorney, Health Care or Medical Directive, Guardianship Designation, Letter of Intent and Beneficiary Designation.

We can help identify which of these elements need to be considered for your specific situation. Some aspects we are able to do with you, such as reviewing and/or changing the beneficiary designation on your retirement or investment accounts. Others, we can help educate you on the importance, and help go through questions to understand what makes sense for your specific circumstance. Some examples may include:

• Are my beneficiary designations up to date? 
• Do I have enough life insurance?
• Has there been any major life events since my Will was last updated?
• Do I need to update my Will?
• Should I open a Trust?
• Should I speak with an estate attorney? 

These are just a few among many other questions relating to estate planning that should be considered as part of an overall financial plan. When we work with you, we do not only go over retirement planning and investments, but want to make sure you've considered the importance of estate planning as well.